Paleomagnetic analysis of the cariri formation and its related basins in the inland basins of northeastern Brazil

• Grant number: 22/04719-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): July 01, 2022
• Effective date (End): June 30, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geology
• Principal Investigator: Giancarlo Scardia
• Grantee: Danielle Simeão Silverio Rocha
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas (IGCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The definition of the age of the stratigraphic units of the Araripe Basin is the subject of great debates regarding its formalization, is currently divided into 4 stratigraphic sequences limited by unconformities and correlated to the rifting phase of the Gondwana Supercontinent. The Cariri Formation, which outcrops predominantly in the eastern portion of the basin, is traditionally described in the bibliography as a Paleozoic age Sequence based on inconclusive lithostratigraphic criteria. There are, however, reports of dinosaur footprints found in the formation that may be in agreement with the position of the virtual geomagnetic poles (VGPs) of Fm Cariri and other related units, determined within the scope of the FAPESP 2019/02600-1 project, which relate to the Triassic age. This would imply the possibility that the basal deposits of the Araripe basin and the other basins of the interior of the Brazilian Northeast belong to a new stratigraphic sequence of the Lower Mesozoic and not of the Paleozoic. To solve this problem, we propose a more in-depth study on Fm. Cariri, through paleomagnetism, in order to define a paleomagnetic pole for this formation in Araripe and other basins in the interior of northeastern Brazil and intensify this new interpretation.(AU)